Nelva Gonzales Ramos was appointed a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division in 2011. She graduated from Southwest Texas State University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Education, summa cum laude, and from the University of Texas School of Law with honors in 1991.

Before becoming a federal judge, she was a state district court judge in the 347th District Court of Nueces County for over ten years.  During that time, she served as the Local Administrative Judge for the Nueces County District Courts and presided over the Domestic Violence Court.  Judge Ramos was previously a Municipal Court Judge for the City of Corpus Christi.  As an attorney with the law firm of Meredith, Donnell & Abernethy, her practice included insurance defense and personal injury and employment litigation.

Judge Ramos served as a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Magistrate Judges System.  She was recognized as the 2019 TEX-ABOTA Jurist of the Year.  She previously served as Chair of the National Conference for Community and Justice and Vice President of the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse–Coastal Bend.  She is a graduate of Leadership Corpus Christi, Class 27.